The Understanding and Attitudes of Local Government CEOs Concerning Their Goals, Their Authority and Their Role in Natural Resources Management

The objective of this article is to investigate local government administrators’ understanding of the ultimate goals of, and their readiness for, decentralization of natural resources management, by examining their knowledge and understanding of existing laws, together with their recommendations for additional laws and regulations. The study involves a survey of all local governments, comprising municipalities and Tambon (subdistrict) Administrative Organizations. Of the questionnaires distributed, 2,680 were returned representing a 34.47 percent response rate. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis and cluster analysis. We found that local governments’ visions differ concerning the scope of decentralization. Decentralization which emphasized people’s participation was by far the most popular, while self governance and revenue independence were given less attention. About 28 percent of the local governments were ready to embrace the concepts of people’s participation, public service focus and self government, but they lacked relevant knowledge needed for effective management. The local governments in the sample wanted increased authority for natural resources management, especially authority related to fisheries resources. They were less keen to increase their revenue-raising power. The results suggest the significance of the gradual delegation of power according the readiness of local governments. Moreover, there is a need to improve practical knowledge related to natural resources regulations and laws, and to stimulate the ability to increase revenue raising capacities of local governments.